Jump to content

RL in Liverpool


Eddie

Recommended Posts

4 minutes ago, Tony Angelino said:

Fair enough mate but you brought up your current location in Hastings.

That’s fair - I was only really doing so to back up the point that we shouldn’t be chasing perfection but rather looking to spread.

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett)

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Just now, gingerjon said:

We really just needed a few more years direct investment to the 2000 era Rugby League Conference.

Now we need to reinvent the wheel and I’m not sure the drive or money is there.

Yeah its such a shame considering what was within reach. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

Yeah its such a shame considering what was within reach. 

Just seems to me that the overwhelming majority of new grassroots clubs setup outside of the heartlands fail because of the lack of competitive fixtures or direct involvement however little it maybe with nearby professional/semi-professional clubs.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there's a lot of scope for NW counties to expand the amount of clubs. Most expansion clubs struggle for regular fixtures due to a lack of opponents in or around their area. Any new clubs in the NW would have lots of potential opponents and could easily find enough teams at their level to play against.

Towns and cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Preston, Blackburn, Chester could support several amateur clubs which would increase the junior player pool substantially

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Tommygilf said:

The irony is that, to a point, we are perfectly positioned as a sport to do this. 

We have multiple distinct levels of the game, with different distinct levels even within just the amateur game. That should offer entry points at whatever level is appropriate and desired: amateur or professional.

Our main failing is that the semi pro/pro divide isn't clear and our semi pro levels don't currently have a broad enough range of clubs within, but that isn't insurmountable.

And new clubs in non-heartlands areas usually have to travel a long way to play, which for an amateur sport puts players off.  The RFL do very little to help organise the game in some areas, what clubs there are are pretty much left to their own devices. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JM2010 said:

I think there's a lot of scope for NW counties to expand the amount of clubs. Most expansion clubs struggle for regular fixtures due to a lack of opponents in or around their area. Any new clubs in the NW would have lots of potential opponents and could easily find enough teams at their level to play against.

Towns and cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Bolton, Bury, Preston, Blackburn, Chester could support several amateur clubs which would increase the junior player pool substantially

This.

We need a domino effect style expansion approach. We need to spread out from where we are strong into new areas that have little to no RL activity.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Tony Angelino said:

This.

We need a domino effect style expansion approach. We need to spread out from where we are strong into new areas that have little to no RL activity.

Trouble is, while everyone would probably agree that’s a good plan, you need people to fund and run it, and the RFL can’t / won’t. Hence we get clubs popping up all over the country, many of whom don’t last long at all as there’s no support from the RL authorities and nobody nearby to play. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Trouble is, while everyone would probably agree that’s a good plan, you need people to fund and run it, and the RFL can’t / won’t. Hence we get clubs popping up all over the country, many of whom don’t last long at all as there’s no support from the RL authorities and nobody nearby to play. 

In an ideal world we’d have dozens of newcastle thunder style grassroots expansion programs but in the absence of this the only other route is to get funding from sport England or from local authorities or from crowdfunding etc with the help of dedicated volunteers on the ground.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Eddie said:

Trouble is, while everyone would probably agree that’s a good plan, you need people to fund and run it, and the RFL can’t / won’t. Hence we get clubs popping up all over the country, many of whom don’t last long at all as there’s no support from the RL authorities and nobody nearby to play. 

That's the biggest hurdle to grassroots expansion. It's usually just well meaning volunteers who decide to start a club with no support from the RFL and in areas that doesn't have any or many clubs nearby. The majority just seem to struggle along until they fold.

Newcastle Thunder are the blueprint for new clubs as they are building a strong community game in their area. I believe that any new clubs who want to join the pro ranks need to prove they have a similar strategy otherwise we just end up with struggling clubs like Skolars and WWR as well as clubs that don't last such as Gloucestershire and Oxford.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

That's the biggest hurdle to grassroots expansion. It's usually just well meaning volunteers who decide to start a club with no support from the RFL and in areas that doesn't have any or many clubs nearby. The majority just seem to struggle along until they fold.

Newcastle Thunder are the blueprint for new clubs as they are building a strong community game in their area. I believe that any new clubs who want to join the pro ranks need to prove they have a similar strategy otherwise we just end up with struggling clubs like Skolars and WWR as well as clubs that don't last such as Gloucestershire and Oxford.

 

Newcastle - fantastic, obviously well funded beyond most clubs’ wildest dreams too (if I won the lottery…).  On your last point though, yes agreed but if other L1 or championship clubs from the heartlands aren’t doing anything to build a community game in their area then it would be hard to impose that rule on new clubs, if they can compete on the pitch. I’ve always defended WWR but am starting to think their inclusion in L1 is a bit ridiculous tho, given their lack of any improvement. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Eddie said:

Newcastle - fantastic, obviously well funded beyond most clubs’ wildest dreams too (if I won the lottery…).  On your last point though, yes agreed but if other L1 or championship clubs from the heartlands aren’t doing anything to build a community game in their area then it would be hard to impose that rule on new clubs, if they can compete on the pitch. I’ve always defended WWR but am starting to think their inclusion in L1 is a bit ridiculous tho, given their lack of any improvement. 

It does have to be the same rule for everyone I  suppose but clubs like Oldham, Keighley, Hunslet etc don't necessarily need to produce juniors as they can pick up players from SL academies and sign players from other L1 and Championship clubs. They are also surrounded by a strong community game

Unfortunately any new clubs outside the heartlands struggle to sign enough players of the required standard as they are too far away from the other clubs. The only way they can be successful in the long term is to either spend a lot of money to convince players to sign for them each season or build a strong junior game in their area. Both options would require owners with extremely deep pockets like Newcastle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One observation on the new Liverpool Lizards which is probably common with other development clubs is that their social media output is very hit and miss

Since they started there has been very little about results, league standings etc and fixtures have also sometimes been missing.  This has surprised me given the team are based around ex Uni students who you would think would be more tech savvy

Sociam media is one key area that SL and the RFL should be able to help with and support.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having lived here for the past 3 years, the locals tend to mention Widnes when I discuss Rugby League rather than Saints.


There is a thriving Union youth section that play out of Liverpool college on Sunday mornings (just off Penny Lane) that causes issues for the tourist buses that go down here. That could be tapped into as its not too far from the University sports ground

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What were the reasons for the RFL rejecting Manchester Rangers application? They seemed to have some money and a plan to grow the community game in Manchester. 

Having a team in Manchester and junior development could only be seen as a positive surely. Even if they didn't climb the league structure and become big club they could have been sustainable and competitive whilst adding the name of Manchester to the professional game

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

What were the reasons for the RFL rejecting Manchester Rangers application? They seemed to have some money and a plan to grow the community game in Manchester. 

Having a team in Manchester and junior development could only be seen as a positive surely. Even if they didn't climb the league structure and become big club they could have been sustainable and competitive whilst adding the name of Manchester to the professional game

Iirc it was because they didn’t want to have a negative impact on local powerhouses Swinton, Oldham and Rochdale. How having more kids in the area playing RL would be negative for them is beyond me though. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 20/04/2022 at 16:25, Tony Angelino said:

Exactly. Wigan could target areas like bolton, Preston and Blackburn etc. while saints could target Huyton, orsmkirk and skelmersdale etc.

Both hull clubs could target north Lincolnshire.

Bolton Mets ,Preston & South Ribble two Blackpool Clubs, Chorley, Runcorn, Liverpool St Helens are all active in or around the area(s) you mention without any aid from the pro clubs.

Teams used to play out of Tarleton (Southport area),Leyland, Heysham,Lancaster, Accrington not to many moons ago. 

 

SL clubs are not going to invest at low level social clubs when they can cherry pick the best kids from established community clubs for very little ( if any) cost. 

They won't even invest in London or Wales so talk of taking an interest in setting up community clubs or even a semi pro team in Liverpool club is all pie in the sky.

Edited by yanto
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.